Wrench head having distal torque lever



Jan. 16, 1951 A. T. KEPPLER WRENCH HEAD HAVING DISTAL TORQUE LEVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 31, 1945 ARTHUR T. KEPPLER I J WQM L A Mom wag Jan. 16, 1951 AT. KEPPLER 2,538,006

WRENCH HEAD HAVING DISTAL TORQUE LEVER Filed Oct. 51, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

ARTHUR T. KEPPLER Patented Jan. 16, 1951 WRENCH HEAD HAVING DISTAL TORQUE LEVER Arthur T. Keppler, Mansfield, Ohio Application October 31, 1945, Serial No. 625,926

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3'70 0. G. 757) 2 Claims.

My invention relates to wrenches and more particularly to wrenches adapted to rotate otherwise inaccessible bodies.

It is frequently necessary to tighten nuts, bolts, pipes, etc. which are located inside a group of other objects and which can only be reached through a narrow opening. In these cases, it is impossible to use conventional wrenches as rotation of the wrench handle about the axis of the nut, bolt, pipe, etc, is impossible. In the prior art, as for example Patent 1,112,800, it has been proposed to avoid this difliculty by the use of a wrench head pivotally mounted on two parallel arms, the arms extending to a second member which pivotally connects them. A single handle is provided to rotate the second connecting member, thereby moving one arm with respect to the other and rotating the wrench head. This method has not proven entirely satisfactory. In particular, only a translational force can be exerted on the single handle. This requires the nut, bolt, pipe, etc. to exert an opposite force of equal magnitude, thus tending to shear off the memher being rotated. Since that member is not accessible and cannot readily be viewed by the operator, it is impossible to observe the eifect of this force until damage results. In addition, it is not always possible to rotate the member in a reverse direction for the force associated with pulling the handle causes the wrench head to become disengaged with the member to be rotated.

I have discovered that the above mentioned disadvantages of prior art wrenches may be avoided by providing handles which produce torque at the handle end of the wrench. This avoids translational forces upon the member to be rotated, thereby enabling the operator to rotate the object to a very tight position without chance of breaking it off. Furthermore, my wrench may be adapted to rotate in both directions without fear of disengaging the object to be rotated.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a wrench adapted to rotate inaccessible objects without exertion of translational force thereon.

Secondly, it is an object of my invention to exert torque on inaccessible objects without producing any tendency to rotate the wrench about the axis of those objects.

While my invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail only the preferred embodiments.

It is to be understood, however, that I do not intend to limit the invention by such disclosure for I aim to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows an outline drawing of my invention as adapted to rotate bolts.

Fig. 1a shows a fragmentary elevational view partly broken away and illustrating the clearance between the sleeve and the rod and with the lower position of the rod shown in dotted lines.

Figure 2 shows the operation of my invention as shown in Figure 1 in the presence of interfering objects.

Figure 3 shows an alternative construction of arms, using two longitudinal rods mounted externally to each other.

Figure 4 shows a further modification of two outer arms and one inner arm.

Figure 5 shows a modification of a tubular member with a flexible inner member.

Figure 6 shows a ratchet head modification of the present invention.

Referring now to Figure 1, [2 represents the object to be rotated which, for purpose of illustration, is shown as a bolt and l represents the wrench head adapted to rotate bolt l2. Head l is connected by pivots 2 and 3 to members 6 and4 respectively so that when 4 is moved with respect to 6 the entire head is rotated. Head I has movable outer jaw 13 mounted in channel opening M in the inner jaw body [5 and pivotally secured thereto by pin l6. Spring H attached to inner jaw body l5 bears against the outer jaw to provide gripping action in one direction of rotation. Conventional means for adjustment of the jaw opening such as the worm screw threadably engaging both inner and outer jaws may be used, although not here illustrated. Member 6 is solidly connected by tube 5, and member I to handle 8. Member 4 is connected to handle 9 by pivot 20. Handle 9 is mounted by pivot [9 to handle 8 so that when the two handles are closed or opened the position of member 4 is altered with respect to members I, 5, and 6, thereby rotating head I.

Operation of my wrench is as follows. When handle 9 is moved with respect to handle 8, it rotates about pivot I9, thereby causing pivot 20 to move and causing member 4 to move with respect to members I, 5 and 6. When member 4 moves with respect to member 6, head I is turned by pivots 3 and 2 thereby turning bolt l2 in accordance with the motion and torque on handles 8 and 9.

The turning efiort of head i about bolt I2 consists of a purely rotational motion since pivots 2 and 3 move about the axis of the bolt 12 as required by the turning effort and no translational force is required to be exerted on handles 8 and 9. This motion is accompanied by very little motion on member 5, thereby producing minimum tendency for interference with other objects.

The operation of my invention in the presence of interfering objects is shown in more detail in Figure 2. In the figure, l and II represent objects such as pipes, electric cables, etc., which interfere with the motion of the wrench. When handle 9 is moved with respect to handle 8 as required to operate my invention, no motion of member is required against the interfering objects, for rotation of head I is produced by relative translation of members 4 and 5 along their length.

I have shown my new wrench in the Figures 1 and 2 as having a single longitudinal member comprising a tube with a movable member mounted within it. If desired, however, two separate members [8 and 2! may be used and mounted externally to each other as in Figure 3. Similarly a three arm system as illustrated in Figure 4 might be used wherein a center arm 22 corresponds to the position of handle 8, Figure 1, and the two outer arms 23 and 24 are moved with respect to the center arm by handle 9.

It is convenient in the use of my wrench to have means whereby the pipe or bolt to be turned is automatically engaged by the head. One method of accomplishing this result is by use of the Stillson wrench head as shown in Figures 1 and 2. An alternate method may consist of the use of a ratchet mechanism as shown in Figure 6 which will permit the relative position of members 4 and 6 to be moved in the reverse direction without altering the position of the body being rotated. Other methods of accomplishing this result will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

If desired, one of the movable longitudinal members of my invention may comprise a flexible member such as a chain 25 as shown in Figures 5 and 6 traversing tubular member 26. mits the use of a curved member as the main arm of the wrench, thereby making it possible to rotate objects which are inaccessible except to a device having a curved shape. A spring 21 may be applied to return the wrench head to its normal position when the handles are released.

My invention is capable of wide variation from the forms illustrated and described, its scope being defined in the appended claims.

This perr The invention described herein may be manu factured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wrench the combination of a rigid arm, an inner jaw, pivot means attaching said jaw to one end of said arm, an outer jaw, means connecting said jaws to allow limited pivotal movement of one jaw relative to the other and in one plane, spring means on said inner jaw and engaging said outer jaw to provide gripping action of said jaws in one direction of pivotal movement of said inner jaw on said arm, a handle pivotally mounted on said arm adjacent the other end thereof, flexible means connected to said handle and to said inner jaw and a spring means connected to said arm and said inner jaw, said flexible means and spring means being attached to said inner jaw at opposite sides of said pivot means.

2. In a wrench, the combination of a relatively stationary jaw, a substantially L-shaped movable jaw pivotally mounted on said relatively stationary jaw, a blade spring mounted on said relatively stationary jaw and bearing against said movable jaw to provide gripping action in one direction of relative movement between said jaws, a tubular arm pivotally attached at one 2101 to said relatively stationary jaw and having a handle at the other end, a spring-biased chain slidable within an intermediate portion of said tubular arm and emerging from lateral openings in said arm located in spaced relation to each end of the arm, one end of said chain at tached to the relatively stationary jaw in spaced relation to said tubular arm, and the other end of the chain secured to a second handle pivotally attached to said first handle.

ARTHUR T. KEPPLER.

REFERENfiES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 714,586 Landis Nov. 25, 1902 805,328 Tacchi Nov. 21, 1905 1,335,030 Roome Mar. 30, 1920 1,391,619 Edwinson Sept. 20, 1921 1,924,023 Carlberg Aug. 22, 1933 2,290,197 Merriman et a1. July 21, 1942 FOREZGN PATENTS Number Country Date 486,757 Germany Nov. 25, 1929 

